Axel Vichten
"Fast" and "Space"... those were Axel's first two words as a baby, and they sum up most of his life. By the time he could walk, he was in the cockpit of a ship, fascinated by the buttons, the lights, and most of all, the feeling of being thrust into the seat as it gained speed at take off. Axel's mother was a pleasure slave to a Sevari crimelord, his father was an Imperial Surveyor to the system, supervising the construction of an Imperial Penal colony on the planet deep in the Outer Rim. As a child, Axel worked for the various criminal organizations on the planet, loading and unloading ships. When he was old enough to reach the controls he was learning the ropes, working for an older smuggler. By the time he was a teen, he had taken over the smuggler's business. Axel was a hellraiser by the time he hit his twenties, and Sevari was becoming more and more of a memory and less of an attraction. He was a bastard child, and the child of nothing more than a crimelord's concubine, so he had no respect there among the purists of his people. To top it off, he was only half-Sevari. Galactic politics were never a concern. Even during the constant wars between the Rebellion and the Empire, Axel kept up business, running weapons for the Rebels, or spice for the Imperials, delivering intelligence for both sides, he was in this for the money and the fame. It was the Kessel Run that was his dream. Han had just made his famous 11.5 parsec run, outperforming every known smuggler before him, and it was Axel's dream to perform that exact run, but only better. When he finally got the chance, and the proper ship, Axel set off, bound for Kessel. His luck, just didn't hold out. Trying to evade Imperial customs, he was jumped by an Imperial cruiser. Thinking of the consequences of being caught, he hid in a secret compartment, under the floor panels, while an Imperial customs ship pulled alongside. During the boarding process, with an entire team of stormtroopers aboard, Axel snuck out of his hiding space and onto the Imperial vessel. It was then that he stunned the Imperial pilot of the Guardian-class Light Cruiser, and then hopped in the pilot's seat, taking off in what would later become his notorious ship, the Doppelganger. Barely escaping with his life, and not breaking any records by far, Axel vowed to hone his skills to perfection and make the run another day. Needing money, to pay off the loan on his now siezed freighter, and for the blown load of spice that was siezed by the Imperials, Axel sought refuge with a band of religious zealots, the Covenant of Fallen Stars. It was in their ranks, as an intelligence smuggler and aquisitions officer that he honed his skills in the stolen Imperial vessel. A transponder change, and a radical paintjob, along with every possible upgrade or modification he could think of to the vessel kept him broke, but at least his debts were paid. Later though, Axel discovered who the Covenant really were and their true intentions and he left their ranks for different places. He tried swoop racing, but his constant life in space left him ill-appropriate for the physically taxing sport, and with his career came the reputation and bounties on his head that made public racing an even more dangerous sport. Shortly after an engagement, where the hopped up smuggler decided to do some scouting for salvage (and drawing Imperial attention as he was scouting during the Second Battle of Corellia) Axel had another price on his head. This was a private mark, given to the notorious Boba Fett himself. Fortunately, the smuggler caught wind of this before it was too late. A bit of luck, or some even say that it was the Force, Axel managed several close call escapes. He was even shot once, but the wound was minor and he made it to the safety of his ship. Not even the infamous Boba Fett seemed to be able to catch the man. Axel knew that he had to lay low after that, after all, he wasn't invincible. The smuggler found a nice hiding place among friends at a little known (at the time) outpost called Asteroid Kappa. After the heat had died down, and the bounty called off with the dissappearance of Fett, Axel came back out of his hiding place and interlaced himself in the social circles of Caspia. In a Plaxton nightclub, he met an off-duty stormtrooper officer, Petra Doom, on shore leave. During a spice-induced stupor, the odd looking Near Human continued to flirt with the disinterested female trooper. One thing led to another and Axel stormed out of the bar to defend his honor and to prove to his "new-found love" that he was, after all, the best pilot in the galaxy. That was when Axel made his trip to Selene and attacked the Black Stars Squadron for the first time, making lasting enemies of them since. The elite Imperial squadron, while they had not been defeated, were somewhat embarrassed, and placed a bounty on the smuggler. There were other encounters with the Black Stars and Axel, one was at Asteroid Kappa. Axel successfully lured the Black Stars through the treacherous asteroid belt in a modified Skipray Blastboat taking constant damage from the pursuing TIE Interceptors. Though he suffered massive ship damage, he was still able to make his getaway and accomplish his goal of pulling the Black Star Squadron away from the New Republic fleet defending Axel's favorite hideout. This, of course, was another hit against the unit, for they failed once again to defeat the smuggler. Axel is still mostly seen on the independant planets, bragging of his skills in the cockpit or peddling his freshly imported spice from the far reaches of the galaxy. The Doppelganger is known throughout many systems as being not only fast, but also being bold and cocksure — stealth was never an option. He is also known to fly in an Imperial Navy-issued Skipray Blastboat with a similar paintjob and heavy modifications. So far, he has yet to be caught. Was it blind luck, skill, or even the Force that kept him alive? No one knows, and someday, luck will change. Until that day though, expect to see outlandish behavior, spice induced antics, or any other odd phenomena from Axel Vichten. Vichten, Axel Vichten, Axel Vichten, Axel